Teen Book Lists

"After discovering the body of fourteen-year-old Jawad Ali in Jackson Park, seventeen-year-old journalism student Safiya Mirza begins investigating his murder and ends up confronting white supremacy in her own high school." (description from LBPL catalog)

"Fourteen-year-old Ayo has to decide whether to take on her mother's activist role when her mom is shot by police. As she tries to find answers, Ayo looks to the wisdom of her ancestors and her Harlem community for guidance" (description from publisher)

"Black high school football captains Russell (Rus) Boudreaux and Marion LaSalle are painfully aware of the racially divided towns of Westmond and Monroe in Louisiana. They are antagonized by two white rival players, Bradley Simmons and Lawrence Perkins, at a game at Westmond High. Marion is arrested by Officer Reynaud on trumped-up charges and kicked off the team. Rus takes a knee during the national anthem at the following game in an act of solidarity; is kicked off the team by his coach; and is villainized by the media, his teammates, and his parents. Rus also starts falling for old friend Gabby Dupre. He questions his political stance when his and Marion's futures are on the line." (description from School Library Journal)

When sixteen-year-old Rashad is mistakenly accused of stealing, classmate Quinn witnesses his brutal beating at the hands of a police officer who happens to be the older brother of his best friend. Told through Rashad and Quinn's alternating viewpoints. (description from LBPL catalog)

Writing letters to the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., seventeen-year-old college-bound Justyce McAllister struggles to face the reality of race relations today and how they are shaping him. (description from LBPL catalog)

After witnessing her friend's death at the hands of a police officer, Starr Carter's life is complicated when the police and a local drug lord try to intimidate her in an effort to learn what happened the night Kahlil died. (description from Novelist)